Improvement in wool-presses



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY H. BROWN, OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN WOOL-PRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 54,103, dated April 24,1866.

V sylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Presses forPacking Wool in the Fleece 5 and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the construction andoperation of the same, :reference being had to the annexed drawings,making a part of this specification, in which- Figure lis a plan view ofa wool-press with ny improvement attached when open to receive theiieece, the blue lines showing` the position of the parts when the pressis folded, as shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of thepress closed upon a single eece.

It is the object of my invention to so constructthefront hinged portionof the press that itshall hold the sides vertical when the press is isclosed and release them when it is opened, and thus economize time andlabor in packing wool in the single ileece; and to this end my inventionconsists in forming a wool-press with four hinged leaves, the two sideones being long to support the fleece, and the rear leaf folding withinthe sides, while the front leaf carries mortises at its top that formgrooved recesses for the curved ends of the side pieces to move in andbe held rigidly vertical while the eece is being tied, and when moveddown over the curved ends of the side pieces permit the sides andrear-leaf to fall into a horizontal position to receive the next eece tobe pressed.

Abed-piece, A,of suitable length and about ten inches in width, isfirmly supported on trestlcs B, or a table, upon which is properlyfastened two pieces, O and D, of rm boards of proper thickness. Sideleaves, E and F, ofthe length ofthe bed-piece A, and about the samewidth and of the same thickness as the pieces O and D, are hinged to thepieces O and D at a and b, their front ends being` rounded from theirinner edges to the shoulders Gr, and the edge of one of them carrying aspring-latch, H, pivoted in its center. A rear leaf, I, about ten inchessquare and of the same thickness as the pieces G and D, is fastened tothe rear of the piece O by hinges c and d, and extends to the inner edgeof the piece D. This rear leaf I, when raised vertically, is held inposition by the spring-catches 'i and 7c.

To the front side of the piece O is hinged the leaf K by hinges c and f,and this leaf is securely attached by screws or otherwise to a bottompiece, L, that carries at its outer end two mortises, gand h, that whenthe side leaves,

E and F, are raised verticallyis moved up on their curved ends, embracesboth, and holds them firmly, and carrying on one side a depression toreceive the latch H, which holds the mortises irmly against theshoulders Gof the side pieces.

The operation is as follows: The leaves, being suitably pierced orgrooved to receive strings, are spread open in a horizon'talposition, asshown in Fig. 1. The i'ieece is now spread on the press and the neck andsides'lapped overonto its center portion. The sides of the press are nowraised to a vertical position, as seen in Fig. 2, and the end leaf israised, the

mortises on its top passing upon the curved ends of the sides is held bythe spring-latch close to the shoulder G, as shown in Fig. 2, and inblue lines in Fig. l. The press now assumes the form of a trough open atits rear end and on the top. The tail of the fleece is now rolled towardthe front of the press, and the inner leaf is raised within the. sidepieces and held vertically by the spring-clips inside of the sideleaves, when the strings are drawn and tied around the eece, nowcompressed into a bundle about ten inches square.

Io open the press it is only necessary to release the spring-latch onthe top and push down the front leaf, when the sides and rear pieceswill fall into the horizontal position to receive a new eece.

I am aware that folding presses have been used to pack wool in thefleece, and therefore I do not broadly claim such; `but What I do claimas my invention, and desire v to secure by Letters Patent, is

The mortised clamping froutleaf and springlatcb, in combination with thefolding side and end leaves, substantially in the manner and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

HENRY E. BROWN.

Witnesses A. S. NICHOLSON, G. M. GORIVILY.'

